An internet-based social network is a platform which facilitates virtual social interaction between internet users, and participation in an internet-based social network site (SNS) requires membership and registration with the SNS beforehand. During the process of registration, the user submits a primary e-mail address which is used as the user's SNS account identifier. The account identifier, as the name suggests is a means of identifying a user, and communicating with the user within the confines of the SNS.
The advent and fast growing popularity of internet-based social networks, or social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook®, MySpace®, Twitter®, amongst a growing list of others has given rise to the creation of an ever-increasing number of applications that are written specifically to function or operate within the confines of a specific SNS, meaning that it may be accessed and utilized only by the members of that SNS when they are logged in to the SNS. Most applications are generally intended for social interaction and may cover a whole gamut of internet-based services, such as online games, music downloads, avatar downloads, electronic greeting cards, virtual gifts, to name just a few.
The wide acceptance of social network sites by internet users as a part and parcel of life and the resulting phenomenal growth in the number of users who are registered as members with one or more social network sites have led to an increasing number of individuals making use of a SNS as a commercial platform. Individual application developers/owners in particular, are taking the opportunity to generate income from their applications by charging a nominal fee for the use of their application. This is called ‘monetizing’ an application. The opportunities provided by a SNS are also being capitalized on a larger scale by commercial entities and even by charities as a channel for solicitation of donations.
This has created a need for a means for members of a SNS to send to and receive funds from other members of the same SNS, or to make payments to a merchant who is a member of the same SNS, for products or services purchased. To date, this has largely been accomplished through value exchange systems which reside and function outside the confines of the SNS, but which are linked to specific value exchange applications specifically written to function within the confines of a specific SNS.
An example of an existing value exchange application would be Spare Change™, which caters to members of SNSs such as Facebook® and MySpace®. A developer/owner of an application begins the process of monetizing an application by first registering a developer account with ‘Spare Change™, and then setting up the application to receive payment via Spare Change™.
A member of a SNS such as Facebook® for example, seeking to make payment for the use of a particular application, such as the fees for downloading a song, obtaining credits to participate in a game takes notice that the application accepts payment by Spare Change™, proceeds to add the Spare Change™ application to his/her Facebook® account in order to facilitate payment. Doing so requires registration and the user will be assigned a Spare Change™ account.
The Spare Change™ application, at the point of making payment gives the user the option of selecting the source of funds through which payment is to be made, a value exchange system such as Paypal®, credit card or electronic funds transfer directly from the member's bank account. All of these are virtual payment channels, meaning that the payment transactions are carried out through the internet.
These options for making payments restrict the use of the application only to users possessing a credit card, or a bank account which is compatible with the application. This restriction limits the scope of members of a SNS who are eligible to make use of the application, and provides no alternative for users who are unable to make use of any of the payment methods provided by Spare Change™.
In view of the disadvantage discussed above, there is an unfulfilled need for a value exchange system that allows the option of making payment not only through virtual payment channels, but also through physical payment channels. It is therefore the objective of the present invention to provide a computer-implemented method of enabling a value exchange between users of a SNS which functions or operates within the SNS, which provides the additional option of making payment through physical payment channels.